Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - June 27th

The benchmark of quality I go for is pretty high.  - Jimmy Page

Shoot for the moon.  Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. - Les Brown

If the plan doesn’t work, change the plan but never the goal. – https://www.pinterest.com/pin/198791771028219349

 

Be stubborn about your goals, and flexible about your methods. - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/351421577154640958

It’s that wonderful time to ponder how our 2017 goals are proceeding.  Are you progressing well knowing you will have no issue accomplishing them?  CONGRATULATIONS!  What about those goals that you are not progressing so well on?  Do you know why you are not achieving them?  

If you are not sure why you are not accomplishing a goal, I suggest you start tracking EVERY ACTION you take.  In The Compound Effect, Darren Hardy discusses that tracking choices forces you to become aware of your decisions.  By tracking your progress, you can examine why you are being successful in certain goals and why you are not being successful in other goals.   Once you know what is prohibiting you from accomplishing it, you can make changes to help change the outcome.

What’s simple to do is also simple not to do. – Jim Rohn

Additionally, tracking provides you the opportunity to benchmark your progress of accomplishing your dreams.  According to Thomas Hamilton’s article Why You Can't Afford NOT to Benchmark Your Activity, “In short, benchmarking is the process of obtaining a particular measurement or understanding a certain result of your operation over a period of time and comparing it either to previous measurements or to industry standards”.  In 2014, I saw someone post on Facebook that they had reviewed their running log and had logged over 750 miles.  I was fascinated by this and started tracking my miles and also the books I read.  Over the years, I review my progress and compare year over year how I am doing.  Especially with my reading log, I am able to see my progress in the number of pages and books read, difficulty of the books and the topics I have been interested in.   

CHALLENGE:  What goals do you need to start tracking to help determine the reasons you are not accomplishing them? 

Once you start tracking your goals, turn that into benchmarking and review it when you are feeling discouraged.  Benchmarking will help you see how far you have progressed over the years.  Happy Tracking!

Resources

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-you-cant-afford-benchmark-your-activity-thomas-hamilton

Hardy, Darren. (2010) The Compound Effect. Boston, Massachusetts: First Vanguard Press.

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - June 20th

How about hear the other side of the story before jumping to conclusions. – Author Unknown

It is only through the opposition of ideas that we can learn to be self-critical, to work towards intellectual humility. - Tariq Ramadan

You must never underestimate your opposition. - John Scarlett

Strong people are made by opposition like kites that go up against the wind. - Frank Harris

Last week, I attend a political event and ran into a man I met a couple months ago.  As we were talking, I remembered he liked to read and I asked him what he was currently spending his time pondering.  After he responded, he asked me what I was reading.  When I responded that I was reading a book that was different than my political views, he looked at me awkwardly and asked if I was enjoying it.  My response was that I was learning a lot and able to see what I considered the fallacies in the author’s perspective.  He said, “Know your enemies!”  This particular politician is not an enemy, but it is someone that I do not agree with.  

When this author’s first book came out, my father suggested I read it to help me understand the other side’s perspective.  That experience taught me that for me to truly understand what I believe, I must understand what the other side believes. 

Recently, Mark Batterson said he had to deconstruct his views to reconstruct them and he said he had to “walk through a process to discover why I believe what I believe”.  This process is about learning who we are, what we believe and why.  I truly believe that when we know this, we are able to disagree agreeably. 

CHALLENGE:  What views do you need to deconstruct to reconstruct to be better educated to grow and develop?

Opposition provides choices, and choices bring consequences - good or bad. - Ezra Taft Benson

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - June 13th

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. ― Leo Tolstoy

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. ― Andy Warhol, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol 

It’s only after you’ve stepped outside your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform. ― Roy T. Bennett

As most readers of this blog will know, I moved to D.C. a little over a year ago.  I am not the most interior design savvy individual and I have done most of my decorating with the assistance of my mother by sending her pictures via text message of furniture in different locations in my apartment and different color pillows on my couch to obtain her opinion.  Throughout my time here, I have added a few things such as flowers, chairs, etc.  Over Memorial Day weekend, I got a hankerin' (great Texas word!) for change.  There were a couple bare walls and an empty space that needed something to add “atmosphere” in my living room.  I stood in my living room and imagined what I could do to change things up.  

After printing and hanging a picture in the corner, buying and hanging a new mirror in my entry way and moving a table from my bedroom to my living room, I was pleased that I had created a different “atmosphere” and removed the empty spaces I was annoyed with.

I learned that a couple simple changes can make a major difference in my living room and I believe this is also true in life.

CHALLENGE:  What changes can you make in your life to change the trajectory of a difficult problem you are dealing with or to help you accomplish your dreams and goals?

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. ― Maria Robinson

You never change your life until you step out of your comfort zone; change begins at the end of your comfort zone. ― Roy T. Bennett